Photography by NotStock Photographye can trace our passion for hot rods to something that occurred, we saw, or influenced us in one way or another when we were kids. Such was the case for Mike Tyskiewicz when he was a youngster living in the Danbury, Connecticut, area. His hot rod “church” was the Danbury Race Arena, a 1/3-mile oval, which he visited frequently as a kid on Saturday nights. Saturday night was reserved for Flathead Fever, and this excitement made its mark … forever. It would take some time, but in the end he found this ’31 Ford roadster pickup with a ’53 Ford Flathead. As these projects often are, they were rough, but they were enough to get the dream moving.
Once Mike retired from the Danbury Fire Department, he began working on his Model A. The project started in earnest in 2018. He began working on a custom frame, but as is usually the case, life got in the way and things slowed down. During this time, he met Scott France, a metal fabricator with significant talent working in Florida. France understood Model As, so it wasn’t long before they devised a plan and became good friends.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s look at what else makes up this hot rod Model A pickup. As mentioned earlier, the frame is a custom-made element designed to hold a severely channeled body, all finalized while at CCS. To the custom set of framerails, a Super Bell drilled I-beam axle (note the turn signals are neatly tucked in the I-beam just to the outside of the last drilled hole on each side) with Johnson Hot Rod Shop Kinmont (disc) brake kit was added along with Speedway Motors split wishbone radius rods and Pete & Jakes tube shocks. In the back, a Franklin quick-change is stuffed with 4.86 gears (can you say, “accelerate”?), RideTech coilovers, more Kinmont disc brakes, and a triangulated four-bar setup. At the corners, there is a set of Rocket Racing Wheels, the Fire model that measures 16×5 in front and 18×6 diameter in back. All are wrapped with Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial by Coker Tire, 5.00R16 in front and 7.00R18 in back.
Inside the channeled RPU is genuinely a one-of-a-kind interior showcasing aluminum work from one end to the other. The dash houses a Dakota Digital RTX-49C (Retrotech) single-gauge with six individual functions. The gauge is made for ’49-50 Chevys but works neatly in this application. Aside from aluminum everywhere, it should be noted that all of the interior, including the seats, pickup bed, tailgate, hinges, twin-fuel gas tank, and engine cover were custom made by France. Also, an integral part of the interior is the custom through the cowl steering with the handmade aluminum steering wheel. The windshield, minus a top bar, is framed by custom aluminum posts. To all the custom metalwork, the bodywork, and then the BASF is a Ford Blue applied by CCS and then cleared.
It’s always fun to take your ideas and get them down on paper, but it’s even more fun when you can turn them into reality and drive them. Mike has a hot rod he’s always wanted, and that’s what owning a hot rod is all about.
